She has started a blog recently and begun to open up about her tennis experiences. I'll put an excerpt here:To talk about tennis, I will need to tell you the way it all began.

I started playing tennis when I was seven years old because of my brother Max, who quit tennis because he was the more artsy, music-type in the family (I actually love music even more than him now but that is another story to tell.) Fun fact - I had to do gymnastics when I was six because the tennis club wouldn't let me join until I got older and strengthened my muscles a little bit more. That honestly was a great help for my tennis because it was almost as if I got a head start at developing coordination and strength, which is much needed when attempting to exceed in sports.

My tennis dream didn't start until a little over eight months into playing, which is when the tennis teacher at the tennis club in Kazakhstan told my mom that I was gifted and that we should pursue tennis on a more serious level. Of course, my mom being the mom that wants everything for her children (and not just everything, but the best) decided to search online for the best tennis academy in the world. That is how we found IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.

It may sound as if it was just a simple, easy decision to make the move because we could financially afford to, but with the dream came a price, and BOY did we pay for it in the years to come. To this day, it still amazes me how my mom sacrificed everything for my tennis. She believed in me even when I didn't exactly know how to properly hit a ball, the thought of her little girl loving tennis and wanting to become something great was enough for her to decide to make the life-changing move. It is vitally important for me to state the fact that God was the author of our story from the very beginning. The way the chapters unraveled throughout the years in the US was nothing short of miraculous. I thank God for it all, and especially for my mom.

With all the amazing aspects of the start of my journey in tennis, come the struggles and trials my family had to endure. My mom and brother and I moved to Bradenton, Florida on August 16th, 2006. What a special date to remember! I am really glad that I know the exact date because every year on August 16th, I can remember the start of a dream and the deep meaning behind it, including the sacrifice my mom made as part of the move. She sacrificed not only her business and her family, but her life. She devoted her life to making her childrens' dreams come true and that, I could never thank her enough for. Can you imagine the tremendous effort, belief, and strength such a move takes? It's something you'd see in a movie or read in a book, but my mom made it a reality.

The move to the United States from Kazakhstan changed my family's life in ways more good than bad, but it is indeed a bitter-sweet story. The way my mom had to start a new life from scratch in Florida is more than my words could ever attempt to describe. Little did we know this new life would bring so much joy and yet sadness, tears and laughter, weakness and strength, gain and loss, and most definitely pain and healing. But I wouldn't trade it for anything, because what is a life without struggle? No good story has a plot without twist. The twists in life are what make our stories special; they also create unique testimonies. My family's is one of those testimonies - uniquely powerful and moving - one to share.

My story hasn't ended, though. It is still very much a story in process. I believe it will reach its climax very soon. I believe that everything my family has endured (which I will be sharing throughout my blog posts) is something to think about to push me when I feel like I can't get up and fight anymore.

With all honesty, something that always touches my inner being is the image of me holding a Wimbledon trophy. I just close my eyes and see a vision of that very moment. That significant moment when I finally raise the trophy high over my head, in front of thousands of people in the stadium, and millions around the world. But a very specific detail in my vision is that even though there is a multitude of people around me, I can easily focus in on my mom in the player's box and I can just see the overpowering emotion in her eyes. All it would take is a look at each other, no words spoken, and we'd both know what was going through our minds. All the days, weeks, months, and years put into this dream would flood our minds; all the time of hard work and endless battles fought... All so worth the moment we both endured pain for. That is my vision, having my mom next to me when I reach the biggest milestone of my life - a dream made reality.

Masheesh took another QWC, at 50K Osprey, and she just retired at 6-7(1) 5-4 against fellow WC Sophie Chang (who seems to be a decent player)... worrying. She was up *5-2 in the 2nd set, had another opportunity to serve for the set but retired (she had already taken a MTO earlier in the set) but just retired. Looks like she won't catch a break, just when the first positive signs in ages were just starting to show...

Mar 21st, 2016 05:10 PM

Potapovushina

Re: Maria Shishkina

So, she drew Sofia Kenin (seeded 14, reached a junior CHR of 2 last year after she made the USO final, WTA 362) in Q1 of 25K Naples and "only" lost 4 & 4 to her yesterday, that's not bad

Although, I don't understand why she's playing a WC tournament for a 50k when she could have been playing in the QD of a 10k in Orlando, FL... may be she has a WC for the MD.

Feb 20th, 2016 10:51 AM

Freakan

Re: Maria Shishkina

She was on entry list for an upcoming 10k in Florida and withdrew, so seems she's not done yet. She does seem to need to have a few matches under her belt to start gradually improving, so if she'd start to play more regularly, I think she'd still have a chance to have a breakthrough.
P.S. If you remember the other great prodigy - Jan Silva (blond, tanned boy) - he's now a 3star recruit. Just shows what all this media attention does to the most talented kids...

I think she was serious, but had way too much pressure as a kid... Now it just looks like she's burnt out, the whole Christian thing is wierd and seems desperate, she never showed any sign of faith when she still was a relevant tennis player

Conservatism and religiosity make a lot of sense for an immigrant wanting to blend into the US culture. Which doesn't mean that it's a "triangulation" per say, just, people want to fit in, and conservative christians are very helpful and accepting people, as long as you share their beliefs. And with their background, they could create a viable income speaking to church groups about the sins of communism and the joys being saved by Jesus. Which would play very well with audiences.

Feb 16th, 2016 01:10 AM

Potapovushina

Re: Maria Shishkina

I think she was serious, but had way too much pressure as a kid... Now it just looks like she's burnt out, the whole Christian thing is wierd and seems desperate, she never showed any sign of faith when she still was a relevant tennis player

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